If you want to spend your afternoon in a bustling crowd of thousands, all in pursuit of delicious Chinese food, Dragon Fest could be just the place for you. Although I can’t say I know many who would opt to be in such a tightly packed space, perhaps the high reward makes it worthwhile.
So, yes, I didn’t expect Dragon Fest to attract such a large crowd of people on such a narrow road, but I also did not expect the variety of vendors that lined the streets. Dragon Fest returned to New York City for the second year in a row, after attracting over 200,000 attendees over five events last year. This year, Dragon Fest is hosting 16 events across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, with 13 more to come — the next one taking place May 25 on Astor Place.
Dragon Fest’s celebration of Chinese culture extends beyond just food. I was drawn to a booth showcasing dough figures, a tradition spanning over thousands of years. The booth’s owner, Dan Zhu, has been crafting these figures for nearly 12 years. He told WSN that his meticulous process involves combining flour with water, steaming it and letting it sit for weeks until the dough becomes firm and pliable. At his booth, Zhu offers a variety of products — from princesses to birds symbolizing love and eternal togetherness.
I spent the rest of my day eating my meals in a backwards fashion, starting with dessert — but it worked. I made my way to Dragon Lulu to try dragon beard candy — a confection made by hand pulling sugar and rice flour into thousands of strands and then filling them with nuts, along with freeze-dried fruits. The owner, Shizhen Ivy Chen, told WSN that she came up with the idea after studying confectionary art in New York City.
“I got into the confectionery class, but they taught French techniques for sugar making, although they were the same as what I saw when I was a child, so I thought, ‘maybe I should do something like that in the future,’” Chen said. “When I heard that Dragon Fest was happening, I thought, ‘I want to share the traditional Chinese candy with New Yorkers as well.’”
Chen sells matcha, raspberry, mango, chocolate hazelnut and peanut flavors, and she is able to alter the taste with the flour that is used, such as including matcha powder in the rice flour. I tried the matcha and raspberry flavors, and I must say, the taste is quite spot-on with the names. The matcha resembled the iced matcha I purchase every few days, and the raspberry flavor, well, tasted like raspberry. I didn’t expect a crunch to come from my first bite, but I guess that was the nuts and freeze-dried fruit filling doing the talking.
Given that sugar is the main ingredient in making the dessert, I will say that I did expect it to be sweeter than what I experienced. My clothes practically became the dessert after eating it — I was covered in powdered sugar.
For my main meal of the day, I went to Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao, a spot known for its soup dumplings. The restaurant’s first location opened around 20 years ago in Flushing, and now the chain has nine total locations. I tried the pan-fried pork buns, noodles with scallion sauce and wontons with spicy peanut sauce.
Overall, wow. The pork buns were plush, soft and warm, and the flavor of the spicy peanut sauce was incredibly peanut-forward. It wouldn’t have surprised me if they actually put peanut butter in there, given just how creamy and thick the dish was. The noodles were also a perfect dish to try between the two dumplings, with a nice oily glaze adding to the wonderful textural experience. Immediately after I left the booth, I began searching for the nearest location so I could plan my next trip.
I ended my Dragon Fest journey by trying Chi Forest, a brand known for its zero-calorie sparkling water. It was refreshing, true to flavor and nice — just think of sparkling water, not too bubbly, with a bit of flavor to it. That’s pretty much what I experienced. You can choose from options that include peach, grape and lychee. Choose your favorite, but maybe don’t do what I did and wait to drink something until the last meal. Although, that did make the drink all the more refreshing.
I was able to truly experience every element of a traditional Chinese meal and even had the chance to observe some craft items. With so many options available, there’s something for everyone to try, even beyond what I had the chance to experience — so, don’t miss out!
Contact Adrianna Nehme at [email protected].
